Key Lime Chiffon Pie

Egg yolks, juice, and milk at left, egg whites at right

Ginger Snap Crust

This is not a dense green pie. Only make key lime pie if you have fresh key limes. Key limes and their juice are yellow, and make a yellow pie. Graham cracker crust works brilliantly, but we make a crust from fresh ginger snap cookies. Good Stuff!

Crumb Crust

Combine in food processor.

1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 stick butter

Pulse in mixer until well combined. Press into a cold piepan and paint with one well beaten eggyolk. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely before filling.

Key Lime Chiffon Pie

5 eggs, separated

3/4 cup key lime juice (15-20 limes)

2 Tablespoons key lime zest

1 15-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Beat eggyolks well, until light and very foamy. The pie will retain most of the air you add through this process. Gently fold in the milk. Reserve. Meanwhile beat the eggwhites. Carefully wash the bowl and whip before beating eggwhites, the slightest amount of grease will prohibit the mounting of air in the eggs. Take care, also, when separating the eggs, there must be no yolk in the whites. Beat the whites to soft peaks, too stiff and they will be difficult to fold into the yolk mix. Add the juice and zest to yolk mix. The juice will begin to cook the milk and eggs immediately so do not mix them until you are ready to fill the pie. Now temper the beaten whites into the egg mix. This means – add one third of the egg yolk mix to the beaten whites, fold gently and determinedly until the mix is pretty nearly homogenized. Now return this bowl to the remainder of the yolk mix, gently folding together all of the whites and yolk mix. Pour into prebaked pie shell and bake at 325 degrees until the pie is completely set and starts to turn golden to caramel in color. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Chill completely before slicing and serving with wild blackberry sorbet! Good Stuff!

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Sauce Bolognese

Browning pancetta cubes

More than just meat sauce, the pancetta and porcinis in this sauce give it an earthiness and life of its very own. Give a whole day for this sauce.

It can be made with any ground meat. We have made some particularly good versions with venison. When using game, you may want to add some more fat(olive oil, pancetta, etc.) Also, carefully wash the porcinis at least once. They can be very dirty.

Serve this sauce over homemade spaghetti or use it lasagna. Good Stuff!

Mirepoix sauteeing alongside soaking porcinis

1/2 pound diced pancetta

1/4 cup olive oil

2 med onions, diced

6-8 cloves garlic, sliced

1 carrot, fine diced

4 ribs celery, diced

Porcinis will be chopped and added after ground meat browns

2 oz. dried porcinis

1 cup boiling water

Slowly brown diced pancetta in olive oil. Cook until crisp and well browned and the oil smokes a little. Add the diced vegetables, stir well, reduce the heat to low and cover for 45 minutes to an hour. Stir occasionally. Meanwhile soak the porcinis in boiling water. Set aside.

Raise heat to med-high and add the ground meat.

2 pounds ground meat(beef, game, meatloaf mix, etc…)

Take time to carefully strain out any dirt that may have washed off the porcinis

Cook the meat completely, stirring often. Lift the mushrooms out of the hot water, attempting to not stir the dirt in the bottom of the cup. Dice the mushrooms and add to pot. Cook for several minutes. Add one cup of the red wine you are drinking while preparing this sauce. Cook for several minutes.Strain the liquid into the pot through a coffee filter or something similar. Cook for several minutes. Add one cup of stock(beef, veal, chicken,…) Cook for several minutes. Add two cups of chopped, peeled, seeded tomatoes. Cook for several minutes, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for several hours. Serve over handmade spaghetti. Good Stuff!

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Mamma’s Meatballs

Formed by hand, uniform in size.

Perfect accompaniment to handmade spaghetti and marinara. Handle the meatball mix lightly and sparingly. Keep it cold while working it. The fat in the ground meats used is key to tender meatballs. Violence and heat can undermine its influence. Make many and experiment with the size. Just remember to cook them through in the first baking. Good Stuff!

2 pounds ground meatloaf mix(beef, veal, pork)

1 large onion, chopped small

3 ribs celery, chopped small

Stew lightly in marinara after baking through

1 bulb garlic, chopped small

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano

1 cup bread crumb

2 eggs

In hot olive oil, saute the onion, celery, and garlic. Cook until soft, do not brown. Season very heavily with salt and pepper, add chopped herbs, and rapid cool.

Top of handmade spaghetti

When vegetables are cold, add all ingredients to large bowl. Mix gently and sparingly. Do not taste raw mix. Cook a small patty in your egg pan or something.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-35 minutes, depending on the size of the meatballs. Thermometer should read no less than 165 at center of meatball. Cool well to freeze or store in refrigerator, or fold right into some simmering marinara sauce. Good Stuff!

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Horseradish Cream Sauce

Assembled ingredients

Grated fresh Horseradish root

Perfect condiment for roast beef. Assure all your ingredients are cold. Combine in a nonreactive bowl –

1 cup fresh grated horseradish root(around 1/2 pound)

1 cup wholefat yogurt

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon hot sauce(or to taste)

salt and pepper

Optional squeeze of lemon juice

Make this sauce at least a day ahead of time. Allow all flavors to steep well. Serve cold. Good Stuff!

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Slow roasted prime beef tenderloin

Generously seasoned with mixed herbs coarse salt and pepper

Fully roasted two hours before service

Or, in a stretch, Chateaubriand. Use only prime meat for this dish. A full tenderloin is not necessary. As little as a meal for two can be roasted in this manner. This piece of meat comfortably fed twelve. Two hours before roasting, remove the meat to your counter to come to room temperature. This step is important to ensure even cooking. Do not season until immediately before roasting. Preheat oven to 270 degrees. Assemble a seasoned oil.

1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon chopped oregano

1 teaspoon chopped basil

1/2 teaspoon chopped thyme

1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary

1 sage leaf chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

Combine all. Apply generously to the beef. Any leftover oil can be reserved for myriad uses. Season heavily with coarse salt and coarse ground black pepper. Season the entire roast, top, bottom, and both ends. The pismo tenderloin, even prime, is quite lean and a shallow roasting pan is adequate to accommodate any juices created during roasting. Put it into the oven. It need not be basted. After the first hour, check regularly for internal temperature. For rare, remove at 125-130, medium rare 135, medium 140-145. In our house we let the meat rest for hours, but most of one hour is usually enough. Serve with Horseradish Sauce(recipe tomorrow,) or Bearnaise. Good Stuff!

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